Bloody Lines
by Meander Red
Summary: As the newest member of the 8th Division, Oshiro Mei's only family has become a few close friends, some adopted brothers and uncles from the 11th division, and her division since her father and great-grandmother's death. Or at least it was, until now.
1. Chapter 1

"Kouki-chan! Where on earth have they been hiding you? I haven't seen you since we got our assignments!"

"That, Oshiro Mei, is because I was assigned to the Fourth division and you were assigned to the Eighth."

"You mean I have been going to the wrong division all these months for nothing, brother?"

Kouki fell into step beside the tall girl who had become his adopted little sister from the minute she had entered the Academy and laughed for what felt like the first time in ages. The healing division rarely saw any reason to laugh with the sort of injuries that were brought to them. That was something that Kouki knew after only six months in the division, and he had not even seen the worst of the injuries that were brought in from fighting the arrancar. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost did not hear the next part of what Mei had said.

"For that, I am afraid I am going to have to think of some horrible revenge so that you don't spend your time off simply moping in the middle of the road."

Kouki looked at her, trying to rid his head of the last images of her being brought into his division badly wounded and looked at her. She was standing with her hands on her hips, staring directly at him as she waited for an answer.

"Like what, Mei-chan?", he asked hesitantly. He had been friends with Oshiro Mei long enough to know just how touchy the normally laidback tomboy was on the rare occasions when she chose to be serious. He mentally cursed his inattention, wishing that he could at least see her eyes so that he knew if she had truly been offended by his silence. The angle was wrong though, and all he had to go on was the softly teasing tone of voice the she had kept up.

"Like, Fukui Kouki, buying me dinner the next time you have time off and spending a few hours trapped in the same room with me. At least long enough for me to hear just what has been going on with you at any rate." She tilted her head up, letting her face break into mischievous grin that made him relax and start smiling. He knew he should be at least annoyed at her for this, but he wasn't thinking about the arrancar or his division with Mei teasing him either.

"Well, that can be easily arranged if you can spare a few minutes. I just finished up for the day and was heading off to get something to eat."

"Perfect. Well, since you've been closed off in your division all this while, I will simply have to take it as my personal duty to show you to a nice quiet restaurant where I can safely beat off your hoards of admirers." she said, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and guiding him away from the small alcove off of the road where they were standing, just before the gates of the Sixth division.

Kouki fought not to snort at that. He had been a street brat from the 75th West district of Rukongai before becoming shinigami, and he looked like it, from the straw colored mop of hair through the broken nose and slight build, all the way down to his twisted left foot. Any admirers he got were likely to be as insane as some of Mei's were, especially the sort she gotten after the rumors that one of the other students in their year, a dyed in the wool bastard regardless of his legitimate birth and ties to one of the lesser noble houses, had spread in revenge for the black eye she had given him when he had taken her teasing and light flirting to be an open invitation for something else. Rumors that he was willing to bet had begun to resurface from the gossip he had heard during training earlier in the week. A soft, smooth voice from behind them made both of their shoulders tensed as he heard the worst of his thoughts echoed by Ito Hideaki as if simply thinking of him had summoned the rumormongering bastard to them.

"Well, well, well. Oshiro Mei. And Fukui Kouki also. My, my. And here, Oshiro, I thought that you would quit acting like your mother after you were assigned to a division. Or is she merely going to fuck with you out of pity, Fukui?"

Kouki tensed and began to swear softly under his breath as Mei urged him to continue walking. Not that ignoring Ito Hideaki would make him stop, but nothing ever did. But Mei had survived the constant whispers and odd glances since Ito had first begun the rumors undermining her family's honor years ago by having a thicker skin than most people. However, the sound of footsteps picked up behind them and it was clear that something had bruised his pride badly, enough that they would not be simply allowed to walk away tonight.

"What, Oshiro? So quiet tonight? Well, maybe that is a good thing if the best Fukui can afford is a Minami whore. Still, sometimes a little noise can make things all the more fun, don't you think Kouki? I might be able to help you out with that."

Before Kouki could realize just what Ito intended he saw something blur past his right cheek and hit Oshiro Mei in the back of the head. She turned then and saw the small silvery glint trapped in between Ito's fingers. For a second, Kouki could not realize just what it was for a second, and then he looked at Mei, watching all of the color drain from her face as she recognized the object. Her mother's necklace, the one that had been presented to her with her father's effects at his funeral. She spoke then, her voice a hoarse choke that was heart wrenching to listen to.

"Please, give me back the necklace, Ito Hideaki."

"Oh, I don't see why I should. If you want it so badly, Oshiro, why don't you come and get it?"

Kouki walked over until he was standing nearly nose-to-nose with Ito. "You know what, I am really tired of your garbage Ito. Give Oshiro Mei back her necklace before I report you to your Captain for disobeying an order from a ranked officer. Or did you forget I am the sixteenth seat of the Fourth division? And don't think I won't report you."

Ito sneered and stepped back and threw the necklace at Mei. "There, Fukui-san. Oshiro-san has her necklace back."

Kouki turned his back, reaching out his hand to pick up the necklace from the ground when a bolt of kidou scorched the ground beneath his hand. Kouki did not think, he simply straightened his fists clenched at his sides, and turned, punching Ito squarely in the chest. It was an even enough match as far as he was concerned for while Ito had half a foot of height and at least fifty pounds of muscle on Kouki, he did not have five years of anger and the sort of fighting skills that any child who grew up on the streets of Rukongai learned as soon as they could walk. The next half hour was a test of just how much he had learned, as Kouki rolled, dodged, and swerved away from Ito's attacks until he landed his final attack on the bastard, leaving him laid out along the road. Now that he was no longer fighting, he could actually feel how badly some of the hits he had taken hurt. Most were not too bad, but the one to his ribs was making it a bit hard to breathe. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulders helpfully pushing enough that he could stand completely upright.

"Enough. This fight is over." Mei said softly, her hand still on his shoulder as she spoke, but there was a presence behind the soft tone that let Kouki know just how annoyed and worried his best friend was over this mess. Getting Oshiro Mei this angry would have been a stupid idea even if he were not her best friend. Not when she had been taught to fight by the old seventh seat of the Eleventh division. She opened her mouth to say something more, but none of them ever learned just what she might have said, since it was then that she jerked forward, doubling over in pain from a kidou blast to the back, knocking her to the ground. Kouki thought he heard raised voices from inside the gates as he tried to move to see just how badly Mei had been hit before the pain in his ribs worsened to the point where all he could pay attention to were the bright stars at the edge of his vision. And then, for a short, blessed while, there was nothing at all.


	2. Chapter 2

"Really, Matsumoto, I know that your captain wanted those papers signed immediately by my captain, but was it really necessary for you to threaten him with Yachiru?" Abarai Renji asked as he walked with his fellow vice-captain to the gates of his division. He would be heading out anyway, to deliver a message to Captain Ukitake from his captain.

Matsumoto shrugged, ignoring the fact that the gesture brought her closer than normal to spilling out of her robes. "It worked. Otherwise, I might still be arguing with Kuchiki-teicho about why Hitsugaya needs these signed. And I have better plans for my night that that."

Renji smiled at that and shook his head, opening the gate for her as they headed out, nearly running into her as she stopped abruptly.

"Dammit, what the hell did you stop like that fo-" Renji broke off his rant as he looked at the scene in front of them. There were three bodies lying on the ground right in front of the gates. Running forward he moved the pulse of the first, a younger man with a braid of light blue hair trailing out behind him, hesitating as he watched him trying to pull himself to his feet. The sounds of swearing from another young man who Matsumoto was trying to help confirmed that he had only been stunned as well. The third form was the only one not attempting to stand was the woman lying face down in the middle of the road, the back of her robes blasted and singed into tatters, half covered by her loose waist-length black hair. Renji moved towards her, relieved to see as he got closer, that she was breathing steadily, even if the breaths themselves sounded somewhat strained and broken. He reached out a hand to help her to her feet and she raised a hand upward, as if to ward off another attack, a strange power emitting from her hand so strongly that Renji had moved for his zanpakuto before he realized just what the girl was doing. He knelt down before her, feeling his own reiatsu beginning to rise as if in answer to the girl's movement.

"I am Abarai Renji, Vice-captain of the Sixth division. I am going to try to help you get the fuck up, not attack you girl." She quit struggling then and Renji pulled the girl to her feet. She appeared to be uninjured, merely stunned by the blast that had destroyed her clothing and Renji moved to pull away before he realized that the girl had somehow grabbed a hold of rieatsu in the process. As soon as he had realized this, she let go of it, bowing respectfully to him. He stared at her suspiciously, trying to place just where he had seen her before. There was something strangely familiar about this girl, as if she was someone he knew, someone he should recognize in spite of everything that had just happened.

Matsumoto looked at him over the girl's bowed head. "What the hell was that?" she asked.

Renji did not answer her but kept looking at the girl in front of him. She did not even attempt to raise her head, but stayed bowed, her eyes fixed on the ground. "I am sorry, aniki. I was not trying to attack you. I don't know what happened."

As soon as the word "aniki" left the girl's lips, Renji froze, completely dumbfounded as to how he had not recognized the girl before. Mei-chan, the recently assigned shinigami who he had adopted as a little sister from almost the minute that she had walked into the Eleventh division as a little kid, even smaller than Yachiru, chattering away happily to the seventh seat. Admittedly, Mei was normally darker colored than the odd ashen shade she was now, and her hair was normally tied back tightly behind her head, but he had seen her all the times when she had been growing up visiting her father in the Eleventh division, seen her looking like this before when he had carried her to the Academy after the attack that had killed her father, Oshiro Donan.

"Dammit, what the fuck is going on here?"

"That is what I want to know. Abarai, Matsumoto-fuiteicho, please escort Ito Hideaki and the other two to my office. I will let Hitsugaya-teicho know that you have been delayed. And as for you two-" Kuchiki Byakuya stopped and looked at Kouki and Mei standing between the two vice-captains. "Your name, rank, and division so that your vice-captains can be informed of what just happened here."

Kouki looked at his feet and in a low voice "Fukui Kouki, sixteenth seat, Fourth division."

The captain turned and looked at Mei then. "And you, girl."

Her voice was clear, if shaking slightly, as she answered. "Oshiro Mei, eighteenth seat, Eighth division."


	3. Chapter 3

Ise Nanao knocked on the door of Byakuya's office, the sound echoing angrily down the hall, as she entered the open room where the captain and Kotetsu Isane where waiting with Renji, Matsumoto, and the three miscreants. She looked annoyed, which was hardly surprising given the message she had gotten from one of the three hell butterflies he had sent minutes before. More so then normal, he mentally corrected, thinking of how often he had seen the cool and reserved vice captain looking annoyed at some of her captain's antics. Not that he was any less annoyed. Since his assignment to the Sixth division, Ito Hideaki had given his captain more headaches than any single other recruit had ever managed, to the point where Byakuya had drawn up the papers for his transfer earlier in the week, ready to wash his hands of the man if he was caught violating division policies even one more time.

"You needed me for something, Kuchiki-teicho." Nanao asked, her voice remaining completely and utterly neutral as she announced herself.

"Yes, it appears there is an incident that involved one of your division members. Abarai-fuiteicho and Matsumoto-fuiteicho were the two who found the three of them. We were waiting until you arrived to hear the full story. Ito Hideaki, do you wish to begin by explaining your role in these events?"

"Yes, teicho. I was walking back to the division after going on an errand when I aw Fukui and Oshiro heading off in front of me. I was speaking with them, and when it was clear that Oshiro was planning on engaging in some sort of inappropriate behavior which I had hoped that she have outgrown after leaving the Academy, I criticized her, thinking that she might be able to see how badly it would reflect on her division if she was found out. Fukui took offense at my comments and started a fight with me, presumably because he was involved in whatever sort of plans Oshiro had for this evening."

Ito did not bother to hide the smirk on his face as he concluded, but the rest of his mannerisms smacked of deference to a superior officer. And yet there was something about the whole incident that told Byakuya that it was all patently false. Not that any of it would be a lie. No, Ito had far too much sense to lie to him about this, not only because he feared being caught lying to a captain, but he would also have to lie to the head of another noble house, one who could report the behavior to his father. Still, he was willing to bet that there was a good bit more to the story than what Ito had said. The slight frown that Isane wore and the line forming between Nanao's eyebrows gave him a confirmation of sorts that they were just as suspicious of Ito's report.

Isane turned and looked at her subordinate, who was sitting stock upright in his seat, looking more like an angry adolescent than a ranked officer, as he clearly fought to control his temper. "Fukui Kouki, is that true? Did you lose your temper and start a fight with Ito Hideaki?"

"Yes, fuiteicho. I started the fight."

"Was it, as Ito claims, because of his comments towards Oshiro Mei?"

"Well, yes, but not -"

Isane cut him off. "Fukui, I do not wish to hear excuses or any other such nonsense. Please, just answer the question. Why did you attack Ito Hideaki?"

Kouki hesitated for a second. "Do I have permission to speak freely then, fuiteicho?"

Isane looked momentarily confused and then let out a very exasperated sigh. "Of course you can, as long as it is relevant to the answer. Now, will you please explain?"

"I hit him because he was harassing Oshiro Mei, the same way that he has been for five years now because he cannot stand the idea that she might be able to refuse him. And I lost my temper, yes, because I was tired of watching my best friend dealing with this day in and day out. So, yes, Ito spoke the truth when he said I hit him because of what he said to Oshiro Mei. But they were most certainly criticisms for inappropriate behavior, unless walking with a friend to dinner has become such a thing."

Byakuya looked up slightly. "You have made your point, Fukui." He turned then, letting his eyes join the other six pairs that were already fixed on Oshiro Mei, staring at her. She looked like a statue, sitting perfectly still with her hands folded in her lap and her head bowed solemnly, waiting for the questions that she had to know would be coming. "Accusing a ranked officer of conduct inappropriate to their station is a serious offense, if it is in fact true. Oshiro Mei, what were you doing when Ito Hideaki found you?"

"I was walking to supper with Kouki when Ito caught up with us."

"I see. Then please tell us what led up to the fight tonight."

Oshiro looked up startled. "Kuchiki-teicho, excuse me, but I need to be clear on this. Do you only want the events of tonight or everything that lead up to that?"

The captain looked levelly in the girls' face. "I wish to hear whatever lead up to the fight between Ito Hideaki and Fukui Kouki this evening."

Oshiro began to speak, her gaze focused on her hands, still gathered in her lap. "I had gone for a walk to the Fourth division, hoping to speak with Kouki when he was off duty. He was heading out of his division when I saw him, and I had hoped that he would be free enough to have dinner with me so that we could talk. I had suggested this to him around the time that Ito saw us as he was heading through the gates of this division. I have had incidents with Ito in the past, at the Academy, and so I decided to continue walking after he addressed me rather than confront him. He followed us though, trying to continue the conversation. From there, I did not see what actually happened, but it resulted in the chain of my mother's necklace snapping. I was rather panicked over this, and when I saw that Ito had the necklace, I asked him to give it back. When he did not, Kouki pulled rank and asked for it back. He threw it at me, and I was bent over to pick it up when I noticed something odd about a foot in front of me. I looked up to see what it was and saw Kouki punch Ito."

Byakuya and Nanao both gave Oshiro an odd sort of measuring look in response to her reply. There was none of the deception that had been in Ito's report, only an odd detail that had caught the captain's attention as she was giving the report.

"Are you sure that is everything that lead up to the fight?"

"Yes, Kuchiki-teicho. The block I did to aniki happened after the fight had ended."

Byakuya passed a hand over his forehead and shoved his confusion at the last comment to the back of his mind. That could be dealt with later. For now, he needed to focus on the matter at hand. "You said that you had had encounters with Ito in the past that lead up to this. Can you explain these encounters?"

Oshiro sat quietly for a second, plainly reluctant to answer the question. Byakuya was about to repeat his request when the girl started to talk.

"I had been in the Academy for a few months, when Ito decided to date me. Ordinarily, I might have dealt better with it, or even accepted his offer. But I was still in mourning for my father and great-grandmother, and under the circumstances, I refused. When he decided to push the issue," Oshiro Mei shrugged. "As I said, maybe I should have reacted better, but I am my father's daughter. And he no longer forced the issue after I blackened his eye for him. However, since it was after the hand-to-hand training session had ended for the day, Mowe-sensei needed to address the issue in his office."

Nanao looked up sharply, the light reflecting off her glasses creating an unnerving glare as she moved, facing where Byakuya where he was sitting behind the desk, before turning back to her subordinate. "Oshiro, are you sure about that? There was no report of any such an incident in your records when you were transferred into the Eighth division."

"I do not know what was actually written, but I know that Mowe-sensei told me that if I ever did such a thing again, that I would be written up for lying as well as for starting a fight. I got off with a warning as it was. I do not remember what Ito's punishment was."

Nanao took off her glasses and turned until she was facing Ito with her hands on her hips. Without her glasses on, it was clear that her expression was no trick of the light, but that she was truly glaring at Ito. Byakuya knew that the unranked shinigami did not have a chance against Nanao's glare, not when he had seen Kurotsuchi Mayuri withered by the same expression. "It appears you are the only other witness to this, since Mowe was removed from his office last month. Were you at the meeting that Oshiro Mei just mentioned?"

This time the deference was utterly complete, tinged with a sort of abject terror of the petite vice-captain. "Y-y-yes, I-Ise-fuiteicho. H-He told her that she had to b-b-be lying because I w-would not d-d-do t-t-that to a l-lady, in spite of how l-l-lowborn h-her m-mother w-w-was."

Nanao polished her glasses and replaced them. The answer fit what everyone in Soul Society had learned this past month after Mowe had been caught using experimental kidou to seduce a student. This would hardly be the first time since that had come out that they had heard of incident reports being altered or omitted from the student records. Especially if he had believed that there was a chance that he could use that as leverage to coerce the student into his bed the next time they were in trouble. She took a second and looked at Oshiro Mei who was sitting perfectly still, as if she could avoid the truth being spoken by simply not moving, not breathing and and Byakuya realized that Nanao was trying to see her as a man would. Maybe it should have been hard to see the tomboy as an attractive woman, or it would have been if she had not seen her captain flirting with so many women. Not the sort of teasing he did with her and had done to Lisa before her, but truly flirting for the intention of bedding the girl. And even shaken, with the white under robe showing between the tattered black of her kimono, it was clear that she was handsome enough for a good many men to try to talk her into bed with them. In fact, looking at the dark blue eyes and black curling hair framing her face just enough to soften it into a pleasant heart shaped frame, he found that he was slightly surprised, regardless of the fact she was part of his division, that Kyoraku had not made even slightest overture or flirtation towards the girl, and then felt guilty about his assumption. The captain had never been anything less than a gentleman to Rukia or many of the other young women in Soul Society. Still, the girl was very pretty and Byakuya could imagine just what sort of rumors that Ito had conjured up to hurt Oshiro Mei, especially if Mowe had helped him with their creation. He wished right then that he did not need to ask and hurt the girl further. However, he needed to hear her say it if any action was to be taken in this matter.

"Oshiro Mei, what was the nature of the rumors that Ito Hideaki was spreading about you?"

Her voice was completely calm, almost emotionless as she spoke. "He said that I would sleep with anyone, whether they paid or not, because I was Minami Chika's daughter. And since there were many people who believed my mother to be a whore, well, how could I be less?" She sounded so level, so completely uncaring, that anyone who was not looking at her might have thought the rumors meant nothing to her, or they would until they saw the way her hands were shaking or the tears that were streaming down her face as she spoke.

"And the incidents stopped after that?"

Oshiro began shaking her head, and the calm strength that had been holding her together broke, forcing the words out of her mouth in a frantic sort of jumble. "No. I thought it would stop. I hoped it had when nothing happened for the next few months. But then it started again, and it was worse, because this time, it was not just Ito, but Mowe-sensei who was trying as well. And I could have fought with Ito and not given a damn, but I couldn't fight Mowe-sensei, not with just how much I stood to lose from even trying. So I said nothing, not until the last seven months there when it started to get bad again. I tried not to, but she found me in the hall right after I had come out of his office, and she would not let me lie to her. So I told her, but then everything went wrong and she never got a chance to report it. And afterwards, there was no chance of anyone coming that I could report it to."

Everyone sat in stunned silence for a moment; the sound of Oshiro's sobs the only noise in the room. There was nothing that they could say to her, nothing that they could do to make her words untrue. She was right. There had been no one who she could report to, no one who could have done anything. Not even the woman she had reported it to, the same woman who had spent so much of her time since then healing in the Fourth division, because Byakuya was sure even without looking at the records just who it was who had tried to comfort Oshiro in the hall that day, who had been the last shinagami to go to the Academy with a message before Rukia's arrest.

Hinamori Momo, vice-captain of the Fifth division.

There was a strangled sound from behind Byakuya's chair a second before his vice captain spoke. "Goddammit to hell, Mei-chan, what the fuck made you let it go so long before you took it to anyone?"

"Aniki, I know you wanted to protect me, but you there are some things you can't do. You couldn't protect me from my father's death, and you couldn't protect me from this."

"Fine. I'll even admit that makes sense in a way, but you could have told someone and the rumors would have stopped. The Eleventh division pretty much watched you grow up. Do you think Ikkaku or Yumichika would have believed it? Hell, do you think Yachiru wouldn't have made sure every last being in Soul Society from the Captain Commander down knew just what was being said."

"The only reason they would have defended me is because I am Oshiro Donan's daughter. Of course they would defend the daughter of their old seventh seat, especially anyone who had been around after the Hollow attack that killed my father. You should know that, ani - Abarai-fuiteicho." The sobbing was gone, and her voice was once again steady, beginning to gain strength from her anger as she argued with Renji.

Matsumoto interrupted. "If you believe that, then why not take it to me? Or to your captain and vice-captain? No one in the Tenth believes those rumors. And do you really think that you would not have known if they had gone through the Eighth? It is not your fault that this happened. Not your fault that it was Hinamori-fuiteicho who you told. But next time, say something."

Byakuya held up his hand. "Let us get back to the issue at hand. In light of what has just been said, I cannot decide just who is to blame for the fight tonight. However, Ito Hideaki, you were warned of what would happen the next time you instigated an event. The papers are already in place for your transfer out of the Sixth division. Please return to your quarters and gather your belongings so that you will be ready to leave in the morning."

He turned and looked at Fukui Kouki. "While by your own admission, you started the fight, it appears that it was a provoked attack. I will leave your punishment to your vice-captain and captain. Now, unless you saw the incident between Abarai-fuiteicho and Oshiro Mei, please return to your own division.

"I saw the incident, Kuchiki-teicho."

Isane nodded and moved to the door, "Then, I will be returning to my division. Unless you need anything, Kuchiki-teicho?"

Byakuya shook his head. "No, that is fine, Kotetsu-fuiteicho. I am sure that you will be of more use to Unohana-teicho than you would be sitting and listening to what Fukui witnessed."

The silver haired woman nodded again and left, heading back to her division and the wounded that were waiting for her there.

"All right. Now, Abarai-fuiteicho, do you care to explain what Oshiro Mei did after the fight?"

Renji shook his head. "I'll be damned if I know, teicho, and that is the truth. She wasn't using kidou or her zanpakuto, so the closest I can come is fucking weird shit with that."

Byakuya gave his vice-captain an odd look. "What precisely do you mean by that, Abarai?"

"I mean that she put up her arm to block, thinking I was trying to attack her and managed to grab a hold of my fucking rieatsu. That is not possible. So, yeah, I meant what I said. Fucking weird shit."

Byakuya looked at Fukui and Matsumoto. "Did both of you see this as well?"

Matsumoto answered "Yes, Kuchiki-teicho" completely matter of factly and Fukui nodded, a sudden jingling catching his attention.

"Oh, I nearly forgot! Your locket, Mei."

He held out his hand, and Nanao stopped him. "There is a strong kidou on this necklace which is fading very quickly. Kuchiki-teicho, is there any workroom in your division that I can use to see what sort of spell it was that bound this locket?"

"Yes, I will show you where it is."

Nanao looked at where Oshiro Mei was still sitting. "Oshiro, please return to your quarters. I will deal with any punishment you receive once I am finished with this."

Oshiro bowed and walked out the door, heading back as Fukui parted and went the other way, back to his own barracks, while both vice-captains flash stepped behind her, one to her own division, and one to deliver the delayed message to the Thirteenth division.


	4. Chapter 4

Nanao walked slowly, trying to clear her head as she made her way back to the Eighth division an hour later. Her kidou analysis had only shown traces of a rather degraded high level kidou binding, an older sort of spell that she was less familiar with, but nothing that could explain her sudden ability to grab reiatsu. There was nothing that she could think of it to explain it. Not kidou, because while Oshiro Mei showed a good deal of promise, she was still too unsteady with the magic to maintain such an exhaustive high level spell. And there was nothing to link it to her zanpakuto either, not with the form that Oshiro Mei's teachers had documented for Ryuuchou-taiga when she achieved shikai. No, while certainly terrifying, her shikai would have surrounded Abarai-fuiteicho in a flaming river of blood, not tried to drain his reiatsu. And no matter how skilled she was, she would have needed to have her zanpakuto in hand to call that attack and the other vice-captain had sworn up and down that the sword had not left her waist when she had moved to block his hand. The soles of her sandals echoed softly on the road as she turned and entered the gates of her own division, and she took a deep breath, trying to focus her thoughts on the message that Kuchiki-teicho had sent with her, his eyes still wide from whatever he had seen in the locket in the split second before he slammed it shut, requesting that Nanao take it directly to her captain. Nanao shook her head again, trying to make sense of this whole puzzle as she squinted, shielding her eyes against the soft hallway light as she stepped in from the dark night. There had only been a binding spell on the locket, nothing to do with what had happened to Abarai-fuiteicho. So what had Byakuya seen in the locket that had frightened him so badly? She sighed and rubbed her eyes beneath the glasses. Whatever it was, it was urgent for Kuchiki-teicho to send this message to her captain. She walked the last few steps down the hall and automatically turned and knocked briskly.

The door opened and her captain's face was shadowed for a second by the brim of his hat.

"Come in, come in. My lovely, lovely Nanao-chan, what brings you here so late? I am too hopeful thinking you have come to drink with me?"

She pulled the fan out of her sleeve and tapped her captain between the eyes. Over the years, it had become a sort of game with them, so much a habit that she did not mind the teasing as much as it seemed, although there were times that her captain's informality annoyed her. It would have worried her far more to have him not tease her, for when her captain became serious, things were truly desperate. The few times that she had seen it was confirmation enough for her to know that to be true. Kyoraku looked hurt, as he always did when she swatted him, and stepped back, allowing her in.

Ukitake stood from where he was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall as he sipped from the dish of sake in his hands. Another dish sat on the small table between them, and Nanao was grateful to see the presence of the sake jar and dishes as well as Ukitake. It would be far more easier to get her captain to attend to business after visiting with an old friend then it would have been if he had been drinking or flirting with a woman in his quarters. She took a deep breath and stood at attention, setting her mind to the matter at hand.

"I apologize for interrupting your evening, teicho, but Kuchiki-teicho sent me a message earlier, and said you needed to know immediately. He said that you needed to see what was inside of this locket," she concluded, pulling the locket from the inside of her kimono.

Ukitake looked puzzled. "That's odd. Abarai-fuiteicho said that the message he gave me was the last one that his captain meant to send tonight, so not to worry about replying too quickly."

Nanao shrugged. "I don't know, Ukitake-teicho. He just decided to send this right as I was leaving."

Kyoraku looked at the locket curiously. "And why is Byakuya-kun sending me women's jewelry, Nanao-chan?"

Instinctively she snapped at the baiting comment. "Because it is evidence for an incident." He cocked his head in interest and she roughly outlined the meeting she had just left for her captain.

Kyoraku took the locket, turning it overly gingerly between his fingers. "This is Oshiro Mei's locket. Interesting. I wonder how Byakuya-kun managed to get this open. I know Oshiro had thought that it was jammed. Still, if he thinks it urgent-" Kyoraku shrugged and thumbed the clasp opening the locket. A scrap of paper fell into his hands as he stared at the locket, his face going white as he stood there until he finally sat down, his sun darkened skin going just as ashen as Oshiro Mei's had earlier in the evening. He shook his head in disbelief and Ukitake moved to stoop behind him, his hand going to his friend's shoulder in an attempt to steady him as he sat, his hands clutching the locket.

"Shunsui, what is it? What is in there that could have shaken you so badly?"

Nanao watched as her captain uncurled his fingers slowly, raising his hand so that his best friend could see what was in the necklace without straining his neck. His face changed as he peered over the taller captain's shoulder at the locket in his hand, and he gasped, his eyes wincing in pain and recognition at what he saw. Slowly, silently he moved to the cupboard and got a small sake cup, filling it and handing to Nanao, before he filled both of the dishes on the table to the brim as well. He pushed one towards where her captain was sitting still unmoving.

"Drink, Shunsui. If you ever needed your sake before, now is the time."

Kyoraku raised his head slowly and nodded as he reached out for the sake, draining the dish in one swift movement. He reached across the table and set the locket down, handling it as if it might turn and bite him if he was not careful, and moved to open the letter that was still folded in the palm of his hand and began to read silently to himself. Suddenly, he stopped, shaking with emotion, as silent tears began to run down his face. He refolded the letter, setting it down silently and removed his hat to run his hands through his hair. The light flickered for a second, reflecting brightly on the fresh tear tracks that had started down his cheeks, no longer shadowed by the down turned brim.

"Nanao-chan, can you please go get Oshiro Mei."

"Teicho?"

"Please, she needs to know as well, and she deserves the knowledge before I have to speak with Yama-jii on this."

Nanao moved towards the door, completely baffled by the severity in her captain's features when Ukitake called for her to stop.

"Shunsui, she is your vice-captain and your right hand. You cannot let her go into this blind."

"You're right, Juushiro. Let her see."

The white haired captain picked up the open locket and moved from behind the desk to where Nanao stood frozen by the door. She took the locket from him. The locket was a plain silver oval, little bigger than a quarter from the outside. Nanao knew, having seen it countless times around Oshiro Mei's neck for the past six months. She looked at the inside. On one side, there was a simple enameled crest, which it took Nanao a moment to identify as belonging to the Tsukano clan. And on the other side was a picture. A picture of her captain and Ukitake-teicho standing behind two young women in shinigami robes, their arms thrown around each other as they smiled and laughed, one holding a Second division rank badge above her head. Both sisters, for the relationship between the young women was clear, even in the picture, looked happy, as did both of the captains standing behind her, their shorter hair the only sign that any time had passed, as they stood next to their kinsman and his friend. It was not a startling resemblance between them, but definitely one that only close kin would share, visible in the dark hair and golden skin, the face shape and the lines around the eyes that appeared when they smiled. It truly was a shocking picture.

Most shocking of all was the fact that Nanao had seen those same features, like a picture of the two women come to life, walking, talking, and breathing earlier this evening. Expression aside, with their hair pulled back, either of the women could have been Oshiro Mei for how close the resemblance was.

"Captain, is that-?" Nanao asked, uncertain of how to finish her thought.

"No. The one was named Ayane, the other one Chika. They've been dead along time. Ayane was killed in a battle, and Chika killed herself a year afterwards." Ukitake explained, hoping to ease that much of the explanation at least.

"Not quite. They presumed Chika had killed herself when she left the Gotei 13. No one ever found the body. I think this explains exactly why."

She straightened, not sure just how much time had passed as she handed the locket back to Ukitake and bowed.

"I will go get Oshiro Mei, teicho, Ukitake-teicho." she said, and hurried out the door, leaving the two men a few minutes to drink down their grief and the old ghosts of memories that now filled the room.

It's me again. Thank you everyone who has been reading this for being patient with me and my lack of wireless over Christmas Break. But I am back, once again with more chapters. I really appreciate the feedback that everyone has given me so far with this story, especially since this is my first real attempt at fanfics. Although there will be more Bleach and non-Bleach fanfics to follow. I was ironically only about 10 chapters into reading Bleach when I started this story, much to the amusement of my friends and family, which has resulted in much teasing about characters I have not yet met in series being able to talk in my head in character. I make no apology for that, since in a way it is true. However, that means that occasionally, my original intentions for the plot go flying out the window. I can only imagine what it must have looked like for my friend who played the difficult role in helping me edit this story when I was randomly yelling "No, it's my story! Give it back! Come back here, character. Just cause I'm writing your part doesn't mean you get to go off on tangents!" The back story of the locket is one of those instances, but that will have to wait until another chapter. Wouldn't be fair for me to spoil my own story now, would it?


	5. Chapter 5

Oshiro Mei sat on the edge of her bed, dressed in her cleanest and most comfortable ukata with her drying hair pulled over her shoulder in a tail, as she began to mend the rips that crisscrossed the back of her robes. While she wore it rarely, it was her favorite kimono, a bit of a lighter weight fabric than her uniforms and one that suited her quite nicely, flattering her soft gold skin and dark hair. It had been a gift from Kouki and the Momoki twins, two of her other closest friends who had been a year ahead of her in the Academy. Rami had actually pestered Riku until her twin brother gave her the last bit of money they needed to buy the robe. Not that Riku would admit that now, not since he had been assigned to the Eleventh division. She grimaced as she thought just how all of her father's old friends in the Eleventh division would react if they had seen her dressed in the robin's egg blue robe with its intricate, if sparse, embroidery and her hair down. Well, all of them except for Yumichika, she added a bit wryly. Maybe he would give her a compliment if he thought she looked anywhere near as good as he thought he did. No wonder his zanpakuto had the personality of strutting little peacock! No, whether they greeted her with compliments, wolf whistles, bawdy jokes, or stunned looks, none of the Eleventh division would have ever thought to give her something like the pretty ukata with its red obi and the tiny braided broach fastened out of navy cord. They could forgive Mei for looking like her mother because she was Oshiro Donan's brat. The little pigtailed kid who had spent the free hours on the rare days when she was allowed to visit her father learning how to flash step by playing catch and tag with Yachiru, and later the feisty teasing tomboy who kept her hair tied up until it looked as short as a lot of the guys who would practice sparring with them and play harmless pranks on all of her adopted uncles. No, none of them would have thought to buy her a pretty kimono or understood why she wanted to wear one. Not Ikkaku or Yumichika. Most certainly not Kenpachi or Yachiru. Not even aniki. No, every last one of them would have felt betrayed to see her wearing something so obviously feminine, almost as betrayed as they would if they knew that her zanpakuto was as much a kidou blade as it was one of the combative attacks that the Eleventh division normally manifested. Normally, it would hurt worse, but between the bruises on her back from the kidou blast, the fight and the interview following, the accidental attack on Renji, and reliving the mess with Ito and Mowe, it was a soft ache compared to the mind numbing exhaustion that was beginning to seep into her bones.

The knock on her door made her jump badly enough to prick her finger on her sewing and she popped her finger into her mouth until she was sure the bleeding was stopped. A second volley of knocks came from her door.

"Come in," she called as she moved towards the door, the mending still held in her hands, baffled by who would be knocking at this time at night.

The door swung open, revealing her vice-captain, looking both shaken and grim, standing in the doorway.

Mei bowed. "Ise-fuiteicho. I-I had forgotten that you were coming to tell me about my punishment. I-"

Nanao held up a hand, stopping the flow of words that was threatening to come from Mei's mouth. "I will not punish you for rumors and lies which you had no control over, let alone for trying to break up a fight. However, Oshiro Mei, Kyoraku-teicho wishes to speak with you immediately."

Mei looked up startled and dropped her mending. "Teicho wants to speak with me now?"

Nanao picked up the bundle of clothing and placed it gently on the table before she nodded gravely, the shaken look in her eyes showing just how badly something had frightened her efficient and unflappable vice-captain. "Yes. Now, please follow me."

Mei tucked her bare feet into sandals and followed Nanao down the hall to her second meeting with a captain tonight, all the while mentally cursing herself for her own stupidity. How had she let herself fall in self-pity enough to forget a meeting with the vice-captain of her own division? She kept her head lowered as she walked, raised just enough to see Nanao's feet as she tried to keep up with the smaller woman's brisk pace, hoping that no one could see just how close she was to breaking into frightened tears and running down the hallway, back to her room. But officers did not do that, and neither did Oshiros. She kept repeating that as a mantra, trying to pull all of the strength that she had gained from being Oshiro Donan's daughter into her mind to steady her for this meeting. She did not need Nanao to tell her that something was wrong, in spite of the vice-captain's reassuring words. Captains did not call meetings for their division members in the middle of the night unless it was an emergency, and most definitely not during a war as bad as the one they were fighting now.

Nanao stopped in front of her and pounded on the door, leaving Mei to stop herself before she ran into her back. The door opened, and Mei could see her captain standing across the room, his back to the door as she entered. She bowed formally, trying to focus on the bare tile floor and not the protests that her bruised back was giving her. Or just what could be so urgent for her captain and vice-captain to arrange a meeting with her in the middle of the night in a room that she could only assume was part of the captain's private quarters. It was most certainly not the office, which was normally cluttered with piles of papers taking up most of the desk. He turned and smiled weakly at her.

"Oshiro Mei? Yes, of course. I am sorry. I did not realize how much you looked like Chika until just now. I should have noticed. Please sit down, all of you."

Mei straightened, struggling not to wince at the knots that had formed in her back from the bow, and sat cross-legged on the floor, Ise-fuiteicho already seated next to her, while the captain sat down. A moment later, footsteps came from by the door, and Ukitake-teicho moved to sit down beside Kyoraku-teicho. Mei lifted her chin a little, startled to see the other captain for a second, until her eyes took in the expression on his face. He looked almost as shaken as Nanao had when she had come to get Mei for this meeting, but that worried her far less than the look on her own captain's face. He looked nothing like the smiling, joking man who had come to see Nanao testing her shikai the month before. She could not imagine him ever smiling with how he looked right now, but even more than that, he looked tired, as drained of energy as she had felt mending her robes.

What had she done to deserve that look? Mei wracked her brain, trying to think, until she remembered, after the fight when Renji had gone to help her up.

"Teicho, I am sorry, if this has anything to do with an -- Abarai-fuiteicho. I do not know what happened with me."

Her captain looked up and gave her a weak smile. "I know that, Mei-chan. There is no way you could have known that it would happen. However, that incident and something that Byakuya-kun found inside of your locket can only make things difficult. Oshiro Mei, I am afraid that you will need to be transferred out of this division. I will be speaking to Yama-jii about this come morning, but I thought you should know why first."

Mei swallowed hard, fighting the heat that was coming to her face. She would not break down in tears in front of her captain. She was an Oshiro, dammit, and she would act like one.

"Thank you, teicho. I understand. I will go gather my things then."

She moved to stand up, needing more than anything to bow and leave before she collapsed in tears right here. She started to, but something was wrong. This was not the self-pity that she had been whining and fussing to herself about moments before. Her ankles would not hold her, and she fell back, in shock. Not the sort that came from a physical blow, but the purely numbing edges which began to creep along the edges of a mind that bad news has pushed to its threshold. And after tonight and everything else, being dismissed was too much, too close on the fight, on the memories of Ito and Mowe's attacks, on what she had done to Renji. She leaned her head forward and began to cry in earnest, shaking with the force of it as the tears streamed silently down her face. She tried to make herself stop, but the choking sobs of her attempts were completely useless. And yet she kept trying, hating herself for being so weak as to cry like this. It had been years since she had done so, and as if that thought were enough, an image flashed into her head of Renji carrying her, exhausted and injured, out of her house after the hollow attack that had killed father and great-grandmother, flash-stepping her to the Fourth division and the care of the healers. Of standing there, the newest student at the Academy, dressed very somberly in the sea of black uniforms, receiving her father's effects from Renji, the next seated officer above him, at his funeral. The memories kept flashing, faster than the tears pouring out of her eyes, until she could see gray cobwebs forming at the edge of her vision, almost unnoticeable over the cold shaking that had overtaken her limbs.

She felt a hand reach out and grab her hand, picking it up from where it rested on her knees and pushing something into it. She looked up. It was Kyoraku-teicho, still holding the other side of the sake dish in her right hand.

"Here, Mei-chan. Drink this. You're in shock."

Mei drank it. It burned down her throat, leaving a rasping sensation that made Mei gasp, trying to catch her breath afterwards. But it had dulled the pain, dulled the panic, and dulled the tired ache in her mind, leaving her with a feeling a numbness that eclipsed everything else.

"Now, sit. As I said, you deserve the full story, first."


	6. Chapter 6

Kyoraku Shunsui sat back, unfolding the letter as Oshiro Mei drank the sake. Dear God, this would have been easier if she did not look so much like both of them. His Chika and his Ayane, the little girls that Hoshiko had died to have. The features should have faded, been less clear after their deaths three centuries before. It certainly had been far less noticeable with Minami Chika, the girl's mother, who while as pretty as her daughter, did not have the same curve at the jaw line, the same sharper features that made Mei's appearance so startling, so much like the other two girls, so much like Hoshiko's face. But whether it was a genetic throwback or something that had come to the girl from the Oshiro side, seeing her was like seeing Chika sitting drinking sake in his office with him, both of them trying to numb the pain of Ayane's death.

He cleared his throat softly, dislodging the lump that came to him when he thought of Chika and Ayane, before he began to speak. "I found this letter when I opened the locket after Nanao-chan brought it from Byakuya-kun's office. I was waiting for you to arrive to read it."

Mei nodded, her eyes still wide and frightened, clearly not knowing what could have happened for him to reassign her.

He picked up the letter. He needed to read it, needed to see the words, hear them, and say them himself for them to be true. There was no point in stalling anymore. It would only hurt worse to read them later, after the shock had gone. Not just for him, but for Oshiro Mei. The girl would not hear something so painful for the first time when he met with the Captain Commander in the morning. No, if he had the strength to take this to Yama-jii, he had the strength to read these words now. No more stalling. He took a deep breath and began to read skipping the address and beginning where the letter itself started

Uncle,

If this locket gets back to Seretei, I am sure that it will find you or else Uncle Juushiro or the Captain Commander. If you are reading this, then you know that, unlikely though I find it now, I have survived long enough to have a child. That is the only way that this will ever return to you, since by morning I will be gone from Seretei, never able to return there during my life, and if there are no children, this locket will be buried with me, the same way that its identical copy was buried with my sister. However, in that case, know that my grief has not made me such a cold-hearted bitch, as the rest of Soul Society would paint me as. I will not deny any child of my line that may enter Soul Society as a shinigami the protection of the Tsukano name, not with the sort of enemies that they would find themselves facing if the abilities of our blood runs true in them. Even in peacetime, the Tsukanos who show the ability that comes with our line find themselves on the front lines of battle. And you are the last person who I should need to remind you of just what happens to those with the ability when we are in the midst of a full war. My sister's death should be enough to remind you of that. However, neither am I so unkind that I would let you never know any of my children or their families. In fact, even now, part of me hopes that somehow, I can heal enough that one of them may eventually find you. The same goes for Uncle Juushiro. But I cannot survive another year of this, of having everyone in Soul Society short of you, Uncle Juushiro, and my captain seeing me and wishing that it was Ayane that had survived that battle instead of me. How can I blame them when I think the same thing? Still, I think it is better for me to leave now, leaving you with only the pain of not knowing, letting everyone else thinking that I am a deserter. Otherwise, uncle, I would cause you a greater pain by taking my own life. I seal this locket now, binding it with the strongest kidou I know, so that it binds not only the locket, but also the ability of the Tsukano clan, to it. I know that my abilities are weak, especially if compared with Ayane-chan's, but my binding kidou was always my strongest spell, stronger than even my healing. As I said, I find it unlikely that this will return to you, or how long it will take, but if I am not alive to renew the binding when it finally breaks, I hope that you have the strength to forgive me for what I have just done.

I sign and seal this letter for the last time,

Your loving niece,

Tsukano Chika

From this day forth, I shall be Minami Haruka.

Kyoraku paused for a moment, steadying himself to read the next part of the letter, when a small still voice spoke, breaking the silence.

"Teicho, that cannot be right. It cannot be. The name is wrong. Minami Haruka couldn't have been Tsukano Chika, she couldn't."

He reached across the table to put a hand on Mei's shoulder. "I am afraid that that is exactly who she was. Please listen. There is a little more."

He lowered his head, unable to look Oshiro Mei in the face as he began to read the next part of the letter.

Uncle,

It has been over three centuries since I have bound this locket, and I need to reseal the locket, this time changing the binding. As I told you before, I am not so cold-hearted as to refuse my family the protection of the Tsukano lineage, and even with her father's name and blood to hide her abilities to some extent, even know I know that my great-granddaughter will need it. Maybe it is just the fears of an old woman, but I have buried both my daughter and my granddaughter, and I have no wish to outlive my lovely Mei as well. However, my Koemi showed no sign of becoming shinigami, and neither did her daughter, Chika. Mei, however, has a stronger reiatsu than either of them ever could have developed already, and I know before the year is out, I shall have to let Oshiro Donan enroll his daughter in the Academy. I know strength and bloodlines are no guarantee of becoming shinigami, but I have raised Mei since the day Chika died giving birth to her, the same way that Koemi died giving birth to Chika - I have often wondered what possessed me to name the girl after who I used to be. And even with the seal on the locket binding her ability, the girl is showing a strength of ability that is so much like Ayane's that it takes my breath away to see her at times. And I know that I am able to notice it, so will anyone else with any level of strength, especially once she is in the Academy. As I said, it is likely the ramblings of an old woman who has too many memories of what can lead to a war, uncle, but the few rumors of what has happened to Uncle Juushiro's lieutenant and those who have been exiled that have reached me trouble me greatly. I will take the risk of wasting what is left of my abilities to guard her from whatever shadows I am chasing then burying her as well because of my own carelessness.

I will probably not live long enough to reseal this, so I will say my last goodbye to you here. Know that I still miss you and Uncle Juushiro and think of you both often. If there were some way I could have made my decision without hurting both of you, I would have. But I must take this path I have chosen.

Your loving niece,

Minami Haruka

He folded the letter and sat it down.

"That is why I need to request your transfer, Mei-chan. We are at war, and you are already a damn fine shinigami. But once you finish training the finer points of your abilities, with a shikai like yours, you would most likely be sent to the front lines in a battle. The fact that you have an ability that only comes from the Tsukano clan, who up until tonight, even I thought was completely gone, almost guarantees it. Honestly, if your great-grandmother had not resealed the locket as she had - I do not want to think of what would have happened to you had Aizen gotten word of such a thing, or what may happen even now if he hears about this. But as your captain, I am the one who would need to send you. And as the uncle of Tsukano Chika, the woman you knew as Minami Haruka, I have been your next of kin since she and your father were killed. And I do not wish to have you die on me in the same way that Tsukano Ayane did."


	7. Chapter 7

Ukitake sat, listening to his oldest friend read the letter, and wishing that there were some way he could protect him from the words. Protect them both from reliving one of the most painful pieces of their past. There was nothing he could do though, even if he had been able to cut away everything that had lead up to that pain. To do that, he would have had to cut take every last memory of Hoshiko and her daughters from Shunsui, leaving nothing behind of the three people who had made his friend the happiest.

He had not thought of Hoshiko in centuries now, but as the memories began to come to the surface, they were surprisingly clear after all this time. He and Shunsui had both been captains by the time she was born, and it was the better part of century later, during her first year in the Academy before he met Shunsui's youngest sister. He had gone to get medicine to help with his cough from Unohana when Shunsui had all but dragged her in, clearly annoyed at the dark haired little girl that followed behind him looking very sick and very frightened.

"Now, Hoshi-chan, I will thrash you from here to the westernmost stretches of Rukongai if I ever find you sneaking into my sake stash again. Is that understood?"

"Yes, oniisan. I won't ever do it again. My head hurts too much." she had whispered, looking for all the world like a ten year old child in her stained Academy uniform, waiting for her older brother to pass down some judgment for her behavior.

She truly had looked wretched right then, Ukitake thought ruefully, with her dark hair in bedraggled pigtails and the look of sheer misery that just spread over her face. But it had still surprised him when he saw the serious expression on Shunsui's face melt away as bent down to pick her up, holding her as she wept on her shoulder, comforting her as sincerely as he had been scolding her just the minute before as they waited for Unohana. His best friend rarely lost his temper and never for long, but he still never calmed down quite this fast. It had not taken long after that for Ukitake to realize just how hard it was for his friend to stay angry with his favorite sister. In fact, there was very little that Kyoraku Shunsui would not have done to keep anything from his beloved Hoshi-joji unhappy. Or, Ukitake admitted, just how far her adopted brother Juushiro would go to make her smile. Fortunately for both of them, Hoshiko was far less of a troublemaker than her favorite brother had been. Other than the incident with breaking into her brother's sake, a drink which Hoshiko absolutely hated and refused to touch afterwards, no one in all of Soul Society, not even the rest of the Kyoraku family, could ever imagine Hoshiko being anything less than the sweet, curious little girl that they loved. Maybe it was because she never joked or teased them quite the same way that she did anyone else, never argued with anyone else quite the same way she did with Shunsui when he felt she had pushed the line too far or tried to get away with a little too much around him. Whatever the reason, it was nearly a century later before anyone realized that while still sweet and even-tempered, Hoshiko was no longer the little girl that all of them remembered, and that there were some things that she cared about enough to cut all of them, even Shunsui and him, out of her life to follow.

Not that she would have ever needed to. No, even looking back on it now, Ukitake was sure that Shunsui would have broken every law there was, fought everyone in Soul Society, up to and including Sensei, if that was what it would have taken for his family to respect Hoshiko's decision to marry the man she loved. He could almost see her standing in the doorway of his office, her eyes flashing angrily as she turned towards her brother, her hair hanging loose over her shoulders like a silken cloak, and declaring that with or without help, with or without the family's approval, she would marry Tsukano Yuushin.

She certainly had not expected her brother to jump up from behind his desk, nearly knocking over his paperwork in the process, and run over to spin her around in a hug that lifted her feet off the floor in congratulations.

The rest of the family had not reacted nearly as well to Hoshiko's news. They had not taken her seriously when she had told them at first, thinking that when they refused, that she would simply accept it. Even when she returned with him and Shunsui to help argue her cause, they had still expected her to see why such a match was unacceptable. Maybe in their older brother's eyes it was acceptable for Shunsui, who had always had little regard for the formalities, to adopt a fellow captain from a lesser noble house as a friend and brother. But it was completely unfathomable that the normally submissive Hoshiko, who had left the Academy three years in because her abilities were not those best suited to a shinigami, should wish to marry the Third division captain, a man from one of the declining noble houses, because she had fallen in love with him. However, the head of the clan finally consented and gave his permission for the marriage, although to this day, Juushiro was never sure if it was because Hoshiko was plainly willing to marry him regardless of their wishes or because Shunsui had threatened to sign the papers himself, using the weight of his position as both a captain and one of her kinsman to push the marriage through. Whatever the cause, the two of them had stood there at attention that fall, watching as Kyoraku Hoshiko married Tsukano Yuushin, completely unrepentant of their role in the entire thing. Not with Hoshiko happier than they had seen her in the entire time they had known her. Even a few years later, when she became pregnant with the twins, there seemed as if nothing could ever end her happiness with him.

Maybe it wouldn't have if Hoshiko was a little stronger, if they had understood just what sort of stress pregnancy put on a pregnant woman's chakra points, a pressure that pulled at the ties to Chain Link and Soul Sleep at an almost unimaginable rate, stretching her so thin in attempts to protect both her and the child. But Hoshiko had survived and she had been so happy to show them her newborn daughters, Chika and Ayane, when the messenger came with the news of her husband's death, killed in a skirmish, one of the first in what would eventually grow into a full scale war. But not yet, not for centuries yet. An hour later, she began bleeding, her body too weakened from the birth and the shock of losing Yuushin to keep fighting. She died before sunset, still holding the two sleeping infants in her arms.

Shunsui had insisted on taking care of the two girls. Even those in his family who might have objected did not say a word, not with everyone so crushed by the news of Hoshiko's death. So without even a token protest, he had become his nieces' legal guardian, in spite of the fact that the girls continued to live with his family for the first few years of their life. That was one point that his brother had managed to get through to the grieving captain, aware that neither Shunsui nor Ukitake could take care of an infant while tending to all of the tasks that were needed to run their divisions. Still, even with his sisters and sister-in-laws taking care of Chika and Ayane, Ukitake could not count the number of times that he want in the evening with Shunsui to visit them. It was almost less work when the girls were old enough to come to live at Soul Society. Almost. The twins had not been anywhere near the sugar-powered hellions that Yachiru was capable of being, but there was one decided advantage of Yachiru over two energetic four year old girls with shinigami blood. There was only one Yachiru. No, Ukitake amended mentally, Ayane when she decided to get into trouble was capable of making Yachiru look like a perfect angel. Thankfully, she rarely took it into her head to do so, not wanting to frighten the quieter, gentler Chika. Still, Ayane's tricks came to an abrupt end when her decision to climb over the division wall resulted in him carrying both her and Chika to the Fourth division. Ayane from a broken ankle she had gotten jumping down from the wall, Chika for the bump to the head she had taken trying to climb the wall to talk her twin into coming down. It was only in the rare moments when they were asleep or still that anyone was likely to remember they were twins. Once they were in the Academy, the difference grew even more noticeable. They still looked the same, but there was something about the mischievous, tomboyish Ayane that made her features seem sharper, more startling than the shyer, more serious Chika, who he could find more often than not sitting outside reading on a sunny day. It was not just their personalities that set them apart either. By the end of their first year, it was clear that Ayane was the one who had the stronger abilities, the better grasp of all of the basic skills, in everything from sword work and hand-to-hand to kidou. Everything except the binding and healing kidous. Those were the two abilities where Chika truly outstripped her sister. Little surprise when they graduated then that Ayane was placed as a ranked officer in the Second division and Chika, an unranked shinigami in the Fourth.

He had seen them both far less after that, coming to visit Shunsui and him as they could on their nights off. It had hurt a bit at first, used as he was to seeing them nearly every day. Still, it was the same plan that they had held to once they started the Academy, one that Shunsui insisted that the girls follow. It would have hardly done for the whispers to start about the girls, claiming that they only got their positions through favoritism and good words from their uncle. Anyone who knew the two of them could see it was not true, and after the first fifty years, no one could ever imagine speaking the rumors about either girl. Even Chika, who had still been so awkward with fighting and attack kidou, had become the fifteenth seat of the Fourth division. And no one would have dared to say a word to Ayane, not when the girl's meteoric rise through the ranks had brought her to the point of becoming vice-captain of the Second division after being a full shinigami less than fifty years.

Maybe Chika should have been jealous, but she was proud of her healing skills, proud that she had become head of the Tsukano clan, too frightened of the family abilities with reiatsu and the fighting kidou that Ayane was so good at for her to be anything but proud of her sister. Proud enough that she had pestered him and Shunsui to help her buy a present for Chika when Ayane became vice-captain, a locket that she and Ayane both plainly admired. It had not taken much pestering to get both of them to agree, and the next time that they came a month later, Shunsui had been able to give each of his niece's a locket. Inside of Ayane's had been the tulip insignia for her division, while Chika's had an enameled Tsukano crest in hers. But otherwise, they were as identical as the girls. Two plain silver ovals, with a picture of the four of them celebrating right after Ayane was announced vice-captain sealed into the right side of the locket. They had looked so beautiful, so happy, standing there, hugging him and Shunsui for their gifts just then.

Back before the skirmishes, like that which had killed Tsukano Yuushin, erupted into a full war only a few months later.

Back when Ayane was still his best friend's niece, not Tsukano Ayane, the heroic vice-captain of the Second division who died trying to get her troops back to safety.

Back before the last battle, when they had come just in time to see her dying in spite of everything that Chika could do. Arriving just in time for Ayane to die in Shunsui's arms.

Back before Chika had disappeared from Soul Society, leaving him and Shunsui to believe that she was dead, unable to live any longer as the sort of hollow shell she had become in that last year, unable to do anything except mourn for her sister.

He still remembered what Chika had told him when he had tried to comfort her with the words that Ayane had died a hero.

"Uncle Juushiro, there is a reason that hero is a title awarded after you're dead. A hero cannot have a family, cannot be anything but a legend. And you lose all that when you die."

The panic in Mei's voice blended for a second with his memory of Chika, and he looked up, startled to see the girl sitting next to Nanao, refusing to see what it was that Shunsui had just told her. Shutting his eyes for a second, Ukitake pushed all of his memories back into the far recesses of his mind. He could not afford to keep looking at the past. Not right now, not with both Shunsui and Oshiro Mei needing him to be strong enough to listen. He listened as Shunsui continued reading the last part of the letter and the painful realization that was beginning to dawn on the girl's face listening to what his best friend was telling her about why it was so urgent for her to be transferred as he folded the letter, returning it to the table in front of him.

Not that he could blame the girl. That was one thing that had never crossed anyone's mind, not with all of them thinking that the Tsukano clan was completely dead. If Aizen ever learned that there was a survivor, someone with the clan's innate ability to manipulate reiatsu flowing strongly through her blood-. Shunsui was right. If he did not simply kill Oshiro Mei outright for such a thing, it was hard to tell what type of torture he would put her through to try to duplicate that same ability in himself.

She shook her head, still ready to protest, still unbelieving in spite of Nanao's hand on her shoulder. Scooping up the locket from the desk where it sat, face down, he handed it to the girl.

She looked at it, and the look on her face made it clear that she knew just who it was in the picture. He could see her eyes, see the fight going out of them, replaced by a betrayed sort of resignation that made him want to apologize for causing her such pain, for making her see the truth. Instead, he stood there, saying nothing. He would not apologize for letting her know that she had family that cared so desperately to keep her alive. It would be an insult to her, to Chika, to Shunsui.

She stood up to leave then. Her face was the same ashen white as Shunsui's had been when he had seen the locket, but she stood up, the numbness of her reaction betrayed only by the shaking of her hands as she bowed.

"I see, teicho. Thank you for letting me know. I should go back now and pack my things."

Ukitake watched her leave before he finally dared turn to Shunsui and hug his friend to his shoulder, letting them both weep again for their loss, reopened like an old scar by the frightened young woman who had left their office and the secrets she had worn around her neck.


	8. Chapter 8

Renji emerged from the Captain Commander's office, feeling as if he had survived a fight with Kenpachi as he walked beside his captain, Matsumoto and Kouki trailing behind them, leaving Nanao and Kyoraku waiting in the office with the Captain Commander. Waiting for him to bring Oshiro Mei in to hear whether or not she was going to be transferred to another division or not. Dammit, he should have wanted to strangle Kyoraku-senpei for requesting the girl's transfer when none of this was her fault, for the pain that he knew that it was causing Mei. He probably would have, Captain Commander or not, if it had not been for the look on Kyoraku's face as he requested the transfer. He stepped aside, turning towards where Ukitake-teicho was standing, his hand on Mei's shoulder as she stood there, her head bowed to hide the tear stains on her face.

He bowed, fighting to keep his face blank. He needed to keep his temper for Oshiro Mei. Maybe not for the young woman who was able to be strong enough to stand here in shinigami uniform and wait for the summons. She would have understood the anger and frustration on his face, but he needed to lock it away anyhow. If not for her, for the Oshiro Mei who he had carried to the Fourth division over five years before. For the little girl that he had adopted as a sister when she was little enough to play outside the division walls with Yachiru.

"The Captain Commander asked me to bring both of you to his office," he said, bowing again before he straightened and walked back down the hall, leaving the two of them to follow.

They did, Ukitake-teicho turning to shut the door Renji had left open before they began.

"Oshiro Mei, please step forward."

The Captain Commander's voice rang through the office, startlingly clear in the silence.

Mei stepped forward timidly and bowed.

"I have heard the evidence of witnesses and seen the locket and I consent with your captain's request to transfer you out of the Eighth division."

Mei bowed deeper, looking completely resigned to this announcement, as if she had expected this. Which come to think of it she probably had. Neither Nanao nor Kyoraku would have left the girl to find out without some warning in advance. Renji moved to bow, waiting for the Captain Commander to dismiss all of them.

"And I apologize to you for the pain that this must cause you. And to both of you, Kyoraku Shunsui, Ukitake Juushiro. I would not have allowed the girl to be assigned to you, not knowing that you are the next of kin for anyone of the Tsukano clan. And unfortunately, there are only four living captains who have seen the ability to manipulate reiatsu in the nature of that clan's ability. And, as Abarai-kun witnessed, the girl does in fact the full, untrained form, of that ability."

"Yes, Yama-jii. That is correct." Kyoraku admitted, bowing himself as he did so."

"Then, Oshiro Mei, you are to be transferred from your current position to the seventeenth seat of the First division. You will be expected to report there with the rest of your belongings within the hour. Is that understood?"

"Ai, souteicho."

"Then, I will remind all of you one last time that this discussion is not to leave this room. Very well. All of you are dismissed."


	9. Chapter 9

Mei folded the mended uniform on top of the rest of her things and shut the case. There had not been much to pack, just her robes and ukata, and the small box of her father's effects. All of it fit into the single suitcase, the same case that she had been sent to her room in the Academy. Then she had thought that her father and great-grandmother would have been proud to see her becoming a shinigami. Now she was no longer sure.

"I thought you would have been proud of me, Hibaba-san," she whispered to the empty room as she straightened.

"She would have been Mei-chan."

Mei turned and looked, surprised to see her captain leaning in the open doorway of her room.

Former captain, she corrected herself as she went to bow. He stepped forward, holding out a hand to stop her.

"Stand up, Mei-chan. You don't need to bow to me. I came to say goodbye. Well, not exactly goodbye, since I'm sure I will see you around. More just seeing you off with some well wishes on your promotion. That's all. But believe me, your great-grandmother would have been proud of you and how you have acted from the minute you were brought into the Academy."

She looked up at Kyoraku-teicho then, still unable to picture him as anything else, even know that she knew that she was related to him. "Then why did she lie to me? She could have told me. Why didn't she tell me who she was?"

Kyoraku reached forward and hugged her, holding her as she cried. "I do not know why, Mei-chan. I honestly wish I could tell you why Chika hid who she was from everyone after so many years. But I honestly know no more of why then you do."

Slowly, she stepped back, drying her eyes on the sleeve of her robe.

"One thing I can do though is give you these. And since I am no longer your captain, there is no reason for me not to do so."

Mei looked and saw the captain holding out a small square of cloth. She unwrapped it gently. Inside were the locket and a small wooden sake dish, lined on the inside with cheap enamel, the flowers painted across the surface still beautiful in spite of the cracks that shattered the image on the enamel.

"Something of your family to take with you. There is no more need for me to keep the locket, not now that I know who my niece meant to have it."

"But, a sake dish, teicho?" Mei asked, completely baffled by the second gift.

"The sake dish was given to me by your father when he announced his engagement to Minami Chika. It was the dish that she had given me when they met, and she felt that I should have it. I think what she actually said was that I deserved it for the amount of abuse that both the poor dish and I took through the course of their courtship. Still, it is something of your mother, and I think you should have it."

"Thank you, teicho."

"You are welcome, Mei." Kyoraku replied, hugging her quickly, and for a second it actually felt like she was his niece. He pulled back abruptly and smiled, tipping her chin back quickly with his hand as he did so.

"Now go, before Yama-jii has both of our heads."


	10. Chapter 10 Epilogue

A full month had passed since Oshiro Mei's transfer before Matsumoto ran into Kyoraku-teicho again, this time drinking with the Eleventh division. She sat down across from him, helping herself to a dish of the sake she was sure he had brought with him. She needed it after having to deal with Ito for the past month. She was in the process of telling the captain about the latest bout of temper that the idiot had sent Hitsugaya into, the third since Kuchiki-teicho had transferred him last month. The other captain was debating making the suggestion for transferring that particular troublemaker to the Eleventh division when a small pink haired blur came running into the room.

"Ken-chan, Ken-chan! Joji-chan beat up Renji. He's gone soft since he left the Eleventh division to work with Byakushi!" Yachiru exclaimed, as she bounced into her habitual perch on Zaraki Kenpachi's shoulder.

Matsumoto smiled, shaking her head. "Baby girl, eh? I am surprised that Kenpachi can recognize anyone in his division with Yachiru's nicknames!"

Renji came in just, his robes sliced and splattered in mud.

Kenpachi looked at him. "Abarai-kun, I'll be damned if I believe it. You, beaten by a little girl?"

Renji scowled, although the effect was ruined slightly by the fact Renji looked as if he was trying not to laugh. "Yes, Zaraki-teicho. She's good too, for a kidou user."

"Aniki, I heard that!"

The scowl disappeared completely as Renji turned offering his arm to Oshiro Mei, who was limping heavily in spite of leaning on Kouki.

"You would have been fine if you hadn't turned your ankle in the mud coming off the practice field." Renji said, grinning broadly at Mei, who glared at him, her dark blue eyes spitting fire from her mud splattered face.

The girl grinned as both of her adopted older brothers helped her sit, getting weight off of her injured foot. "It was the only way I could be sure I got my control down."

Kouki made a face at her. "Little doubt of that. Although next time, try not to pick my day off Mei-chan."

She laughed, trying to wipe some of the mud off of her face using her sleeve. Kouki dug out a handkerchief and handed it to her.

Matsumoto started laughing. "I never thought Oshiro Mei would beat Renji in a fight. Not for a while in any case. Especially not after how hard she tried to keep from getting in a fight with Ito."

Kyoraku looked over at the girl and shrugged, smiling as he shook his head, a soft chuckle escaping from beneath the down turned brim of his hat. "Mei-chan is an Oshiro. I find it unlikely that Donan would have not made sure his daughter knew how to fight."

Matsumoto looked at him, knowing that he was leaving something out of his explanation. She did not pry though, but instead began to tease him instead. "And Minami Chika's daughter. You better remember that woman's right hook. You lost enough sake to it."

The other captain raised his hat and gave Matsumoto a mock salute with his dish. "Well then, I haven't lost any sake yet, but I'll take your word. It must run in her family."

Author's Note

Thank yo everyone who has read this. Here ends my first published fanfic. Not bad for a start. In a way, I feel bad that this story did not lend itself to pairings, although I am not sure how I would have managed given the relationships the characters have with each other. But I could not just leave it with Mei's transfer to the First. So thus, the Epilogue. Hopefully you enjoyed the story as much as I liked writing it.


End file.
